Saturday August 10, 2024 | SOOKE, BC [Updated 9 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The new provincial Juan de Fuca-Malahat riding has a large geographical footprint.
For candidates in the upcoming 2024 BC election the driving time alone is a challenge, on top of engaging in a number of communities that have diverse interests and needs from their next elected official.
- Port Renfrew
- Jordan River
- Shirley
- Otter Point
- Sooke
- East Sooke
- Metchosin
- Malahat/Spectacle Lake
- Shawnigan Lake
- Mill Bay
- Cobble Hill
New riding in 2024:
Juan de Fuca-Malahat was proposed in 2021 following a review by the Electorial Boundaries Commission, during which the west shore expanded from having two ridings to now three (Esquimalt-Colwood was formerly Esquimalt-Metchosin; Juan de Fuca-Malahat is new with Sooke, Metchosin and Mill Bay/Shawnigan communities); Langford-Highlands is a contrast of intense urban and decidedly rural).
Generally-speaking riding boundaries are reflective of population growth but don’t always recognize geographical challenges or sense of continuity among the communities within the boundary.
Juan de Fuca-Malahat is a predominantly rural riding with Sooke essentially at its core. The physical area is about 2,100 sq km. The population is approximately 50,000 people.
Juan de Fuca-Malahat Candidates for Election 2024:
Running in the newly boundaried riding (which for the last two elections did not combine Metchosin and Sooke or bind the east side of the island with central-west) are candidates with the four major parties:
- BC Green – David Evans
- BC NDP – Dana LaJeunesse
- BC United – Herb Haldane
- Conservative Party of BC – Marina Sapozhnikov
The BC provincial election is on October 19, 2024. The pre-campaign period started July 23, and the official campaign period across BC starts on September 21.
Travel time:
To meet voters where they are is a key part of any successful election campaign. In the case of Juan de Fuca-Malahat that involves a lot of road travel to get to the various communities in the riding.
Candidate travel expenses are usually covered by campaign fundraising.
David Evans does a lot of his own driving, either alone or with volunteers. On any given day he may drive from Sooke to Metchosin to Mill Bay and back.
Campaign office:
So far, the BC Green campaign does not have a campaign office. For now, that’s about David Evans working out of his car. “With so much distance between the 11 distinct communities, my car has become my office,” he says.
Sooke is somewhat in the middle of the riding geographically, with all the other communities dispersed in several directions.
Meeting with volunteers:
For the David Evans campaign, most volunteer meetings are at a cafe, at the home of a volunteer, at his house.
He is also meeting sometimes with volunteers in the campaign office of neighbouring BC Green candidate Cammy Lockwood (Cowichan Valley).
The Juan de Fuca-Malahat team will be at the Cowichan Valley campaign launch event next weekend in Duncan.
Music festival August 10:
Evans will be at the Sooke Music and Art Festival today August 10 at Fred Milne Park. [Island Social Trends Community Calendar]
===== RELATED:
- BC NDP chooses Dana Lajeunesse as Juan de Fuca-Malahat candidate (July 21, 2024)
- BC Election 2024: where health & politics mix (or not) (July 20, 2024)
- Juan de Fuca-Malahat race heating up in Sooke (June 29, 2024)
- BC United picks Herb Haldane for Juan de Fuca-Malahat race (June 28, 2024)
- Sooke businessman David Evans now BC Green candidate for Juan de Fuca – Malahat (May 11, 2024)
- Three west shore ridings heating up toward BC Election 2024 (February 12, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: BC ELECTION 2024 | VANCOUVER ISLAND